According to seed cotton arrival figures for Feb. 1 to 15, a shortfall of 2.2 million is expected from the Middle Eastern country.

The standing cotton crop in the province of Punjab was damaged by heavy rains at a time when the plants were at the flowering stage, which resulted in massive shedding in major cotton growing belts of the province.

The latest arrival figures showed that only 9.3 million bales have been harvested as of Feb. 15 in Punjab compared to the 11.5 million bales produced in the same period last year.

Cotton analysts are calling it a big setback for the countryΆs economy, as now a huge quantity of the fiber need to be imported.

PakistanΆs overall cotton production is trailing by 1.5 million bales. About 12.6 million bales have been harvested so far compared to 14.099 million bales during the same period last year.

There is also a lesser off-take of cotton from spinners who so far have purchased around 11.1 million bales vs. 12.9 million bales in the same period last year.

GinnerΆs unsold stocks are also slightly higher this year at 1.3 million bales vs. 1.182 million bales, during the corresponding period last year.

Source: Dawn